Lindsey v. Clark

193 Va. 522, 69 S.E.2d 342 (1952)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

The property at issue is four adjoining residential lots, Lots 31, 32, 33 and 34, all of which were initially owned by the Clarks (D). D conveyed the front two-thirds of Lots 33 and 34 to their daughter and son-in-law, the Sixes. The deed reserved a driveway easement, ten feet in width along the south side of the two lots conveyed, to be used for the benefit of the rear third of Lots 33 and 34. The Sixes built a house on their lot which was fifteen feet from D's property line on the north, and eight feet from their own line on the south. The Sixes' property was ultimately conveyed to the Lindseys (P). D used a driveway over P's property, but it consisted of ten feet along the north side of the property, rather than the ten feet on the south side reserved in the deed. D continued to use this easement without objection from any of the owners of Lots 33 and 34 until P began to object shortly before suit was brought. The evidence indicated that D intended to reserve an easement along the north side of the property, but it was misstated in the deed. P sued to enjoin D from using the driveway on the north side, since it was not reserved in the deed, and argued that the easement actually reserved in the deed had been abandoned and therefore extinguished. The lower court held that the easement had not been abandoned. P appeals.